During spring break 2009, 24 undergraduate and graduate students visited pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico as part of a course offered by the Georgia Tech Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery. Students heard lectures and toured the facilities of Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, and Wyeth. They learned about and saw the production of drugs, including diabetes medications (Januvia), birth control patches (EVRA), slow-release cardiovascular pills (Procardia XL), biotechnology proteins (Neupogen) and veterinary medicine (Heartgard).

This trip was the third in what has become an annual event. Participating students were from the Schools of Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, and Chemistry & Biochemistry. The trip was led by professors Mark Prausnitz and Andreas Bommarius, organized by graduate students Angel Olivera-Toro and Janna Blum, and sponsored by the Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery.

Included in the photograph of the group from the trip are Chemistry and biochemistry undergraduate and graduate students: Mallori Burse (U), Paul Herin (U), Amy Jablonski (G), Mark Koval (U), Rachana Joshi (U), Susan Orwig (G), Michael Rood (G), Gopika Suraj (U), Russell Vegh (G), Blake Wood (U)

For more information, please contact Mark Prausnitz (prausnitz@gatech.edu) or Andreas Bommarius (andreas.bommarius@chbe.gatech.edu).